Weaving machine with uninterrupted weft supply



3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR:

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WEAVING MACHINE WITH UNINTERRUPTED WEFT'SUPPLY Filed Jan. 15, 1965 Jan. 24, 1967 R- DEWAS Jan. 24, 1967 WEAVING MACHINE WITH UNINTERRUPTED WEFT SUPPLY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 15. 1965 INVENTOR: /Z. DQWCLS [5B GLJMICM swam: I

5 Sheets-Sheet 5 mm H R. DEWAS WEAVING MACHINE WITH UNINTERRUPTED WEFT SUPPLY WIPENM Jan. 24, 1967 Filed Jan. 15, 1965 mm wk .QN.

I N\/ EN R: R. D LWCLS ES (QLQXMJAY g/QLU United States Patent O 60,733 11 Claims. (Cl. 139-423) The invention relates to weaving machines with uninterrupted weft supply from large bobbins situated outside the shed.

It mainly concerns the needles. used, in particular, on the wide looms, and consisting in most cases of two elements: a flexible band and a rigid part, itself comprising a needle body and a head, the front part of the said band being fixed underneath the lower face, or sole, of the said needle body.

In a traditional type of machine of this kind, a driving wheel, with cogs or projections, engages perforations in the band and causes the needle to perform a reciprocating movement; outside the shed, the edges of the b ands are engaged in a rectilinear slide bar which is prolonged in the form of a bow-shaped part which guides the band towards the bottom of the machine, while inside the shed the said edges are engaged in the indentations of guides taking the form of figures, which perform the guiding operation by means of their lower face, or base, their lateral face and their upper face.

The head, which is mounted at the front extremity of the needle body, extends beyond the end of the band, and is thus in advance of the guiding zone, and overhanging. It follows that various forces, including the inertia of the head when the direction of movement of the needle and the slay is reversed, are mainly localized on the front part of the hand, which therefore generally becomes unusable owing to the more rapid wear suffered by the said part.

The purpose of the invention is to remedy these drawbacks, for which purpose the band is aflixed, at the most, underneath the rear portion of the body of the needle, while the front portion of the sole of the said body comprises a guiding element, of which the cross-section is exactly the same as that of the band, and a reinforcing element forming a longitudinal rib or projection underneath the lower face of the guiding element. The elements in question preferably consist of a detachable wear piece.

When the needle enters the shed, the lower longitudinal rib lowers the warp threads of the lower web below the level of the base of the guides, and this system, by contrast to the known type of construction, eliminates the risk of the said warp threads becoming jammed between the guiding surfaces and the lower face of the band while the latter is advancing, so that, compared with apparatus designed in the past, the surfaces guiding the sail lower face of the band can be increased in the transversal and also in the longitudinal direction, resulting in a reduction in the vertical pressure per unit area of the weaving part and of the edges of the band against the guiding surfaces consisting of the bases of the guides, and consequently in a corresponding reduction in the wear suffered by the parts as a result of friction.

The system based on the invention also makes it possible to provide two supplementary guiding surfaces along the lateral faces of the longitudinal rib. This is yet a further characteristic of the invention, which results in a reduction of the horizontal pressure per unit area between the friction surfaces and consequently in a reduction of the wear suffered in the said direction.

It is also possible to add .a supplementary guiding surface alongthe edges of the lower face of the said rib.

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2 This further characteristic leads to an additional reduction in the vertical pressure per unit area and thus to a corresponding reduction in the amount of wear suffered.

According to a further characteristic of the invention, the lower face of the front portion of the body of the needle is inclined downwards to the rear, and the front end of the aforementioned longitudinal rib is inclined in the same direction, while the front end of the guiding element, of exactly the same cross-section as that of the band, is inclined, in top view, towards the rear, towards each side from the centre, in order to reach the sides of said band section. By placing the widest part of the front end of the aforementioned guiding element substantially in the same transverse vertical plane as the lowest part of the inclined lower front face of the longitudinal rib, the warp threads of the lower web, when the said element enters the shed, already occupy a sufficiently low position to ensure that they are not subjected to fatigue, owing to the fact that they only have to bear, at the most, a slight contact from the said element.

The ribbed Wear piece added to the body of the needle is obviously more rigid than the band portion which it replaces and it contributes to the rigidity of the said needle body, which results in a further reduction in the wear on the guiding surfaces, as a result of the reduction in the bending stresses of the members which slide in the guides.

The characteristics and advantages of the invention will be better understood from a perusal of the following description and from an examination of the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, as examples, without any limitat-ive efiect, some embodiments of the invention.

On the said drawings:

FIG. 1 shows, in elevational view, one end of a slay of a weaving machine with uninterrupted weft supply, the rectilinear slide and the guide how for the band, as well as the mechanism adapted to drive the needle.

FIG. 2 shows, on a larger scale, and as an elevation, with portions cut away, the rectilinear slideway with the needle at the outer end of its travel.

FIG. 3 is a plan view from below, corresponding to FIG. 2, but only showing the needle.

FIG. 4 is a cross section along the line IVIV of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an elevation of the body of the needle, engaged in the first guides.

FIG. 6 is a section along the line VIVI of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a section along the line VII-VII of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a section along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 is an elevation, with portions cut away, of the guide alone to be seen in FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 8 and shows a first alternative form of guide.

FIG. 12 is a partial elevation of this first alternative form of guide, shown alone.

FIG. 13 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 12.

FIGS. 14 and 15 show, as an elevation and as a plan view, respectively, the configuration of one of the guides provided by prior art.

The weaving machine with uninterrupted weft supply is shown partially in FIG. 1, where can be seen one end of the slay 1, a weft thread feed needle marked 2 as a whole and consisting of a flexible band 3 (FIGS. 2, 5 and 7), a needle body 4 and a needle head 5, guiding devices for the needle, which are integral with the slay and which comprise, on the one hand, a rectilinear slideway 6, and one the other hand, guides such as 7, situated inside and at the edges of the zone where the shed is formed, a bow-. shaped part 8 forming a continuation of the slideway 6 and intended to guide the band towards the lower part of the machine, a cogwheel 9 mounted on a transversal shaft set in alternating motion in order to cause the needle to perform a reciprocating movement, under the action of a mechanism comprising a toothed pinion 11 integral with the said shaft, a toothed sector 12 engaging with the pinion 11, and a cam 13, which acts on an extension of the arm of the sector 12 and which is integral with a horizontal shaft 14 set in rotation by any suitable means, the swords such as 1a of the slay 1 being freely linked to the said shaft.

The band 3 consists of a number of superimposed strips (two in number, 3a and 3b, in the present example, FIG. 2); it has central perforations 15 (see also FIGS. 3 and 7) adapted to be engaged by the teeth 16 of the wheel 9 (FIG. 2).

In this embodiment of the invention, the band 3 is fixed underneath the rear part of the sole of the needle body 4, by any suitable means, e.g. by two rows of bolts 17 and 18, arranged on either side of the line of perforations 15 in the said band.

Underneath the front part of the sole of the needle body, a wear piece 19, of special structure, is aflixed, by means, for example, of a row of bolts 20 (FIGS. 2 and 3).

The wear piece 19 comprises a guiding element 21 (see also FIG. 4), having a cross-section exactly the same as that of the band and therefore forming an extension of this latter, and also a reinforcing element 22, forming a longitudinal projecting rib underneath the lower face of the said guiding element.

The end of the band 3, afiixed to the needle body, is cut away to a point, as shown at 23 (FIGS. 2 and 3) is accommodated in a recess 24 of triangular shape provided in the rear end of the wear piece 19; the securing means is completed by a bolt 25 situated in the point of the band.

The front end of the wear piece 19, likewise in the form of a point, is fitted into a recess 26 (FIGS. 2 and 3) of corresponding shape, provided in the front end of the sole of the needle body.

The lower face of the front part of the needle body is inclined downwards to the rear, in order to form a slope 27, so that it can lower the warp threads of the lower web when the needle penetrates the shed. The front end of the wear piece 19 is likewise inclined downwards to the rear, to form a slope 28, substantially constituting an extension of the slope 27.

The front end of the guiding element 21 of the wear piece 19 is inclined, in plan top view, towards the rear, to either side from the centre, as indicated at 29 and 30 in FIG. 3. In this example, the said front part of the guiding element reaches its maximum width, i.e. a width equal to that of the band, substantially in the same transverse plane as the rear extremity of the slope 28, as indicated at A and B in FIG. 3.

Furthermore, the upper face and the lower face of the inclined parts 29 and 30 of the front end of the guiding element of the wear piece 19 are bevelled; in other words, the upper face is inclined towards the front and downwards, as indicated at 31 in FIG. 2, and the lower face is inclined upwards the front, as indicated at 32 and 33 in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The edges of the band 3, as well as those of the guiding element 21 of the wear piece 19, are guided, firstly, in the slideway 6 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 4), and secondly, in the notches of the two fingers which each of the guides 7 comprises (FIGS. 1, 5, 7 and 8).

The slideway 6 comprises a profiled part 34 which rests on a support 35, secured the slay 1 by bolts 36 (FIG. 1). The said profiled part comprises two lateral guiding surfaces 37 and 38 (FIG. 4), two lower horizontal guiding surfaces 39 and 40, and two supplementary vertical guiding surfaces 41 and 42. The slideway also comprises two upper horizontal guiding surfaces 43 and 44, formed by the inner edges of two plates 45 4 and 46, affixed to the top part of the profiled part 34 by means of bolts 47.

When the band is reciprocatcd in the slideway, it is only in contact with the faces 37, 38, 39, 40 and 43, 44, thereof; the other two faces 41 and 42, are only in contact with the longitudinal rib 22 of the wear piece 19.

The rear part of the sole of the needle body 4, which is the only part which moves above the driving wheel 9 when the needle recedes, has a central longitudinal clearance 48 in which the tops of the teeth 16 of the said driving wheel can engage.

The wear piece and the band are adapted to bear on similar guiding surfaces in each of the guides 7 which comprise, on the one side, a finger 49 (FIGS. 9 and 10) and, on the other side, a finger 50. Each guide, such as 7, comprises a body 51, which, under the action of our oblique screw 52 (see also FIGS. 5 and 6), is applied, by two faces 53 and 54 against the upper face of a rule 55, and by a vertical face 56, against a face of the same rule, this latter being affixed, by means of screws 57 and shims 58 (see also FIGS. 5 and 6) against the web of an H-section profiled part 59 forming the slay 1.

In FIG. 6, as well as in FIG. 8, the lower part of the reed 60 is also shown, being afiixed in a part 61 which is integral with the profiled part 59.

The finger 49 of each guide 7 has a notch forming a lower horizontal guiding surface, or base 62 (FIGS. 9 and 10), a lateral vertical surface 63 and an upper horizontal surface 64.

The base 62 extends towards the inside, as far as the position of the corresponding lateral face of the longitudinal rib 22 of the wear piece (see FIG. 8), but, in order to ensure that the warp threads of the lower web easily slide on either side of the base when the slope 28 of the front extremity of the wear piece 19 enters the shed, that part of this horizontal guiding surface which is closest to the axis of the system has the shape of an isosceles trapezium, of which the minor base is nearer the said axis and parallel thereto, this shape being obtained by two chamfers 65 and 66 (FIGS. 9 and 10).

The finger 49 of the guide also has a supplementary vertical guiding surface 67, against which the corresponding lateral face of the rib 22 is adapted to slide.

In the guides provided by prior art, such as 7b shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the upper horizontal surface 64 was already provided, as well as the lateral vertical surface 63 and the base 62, but this latter, for reasons which will be explained in due course, was considerably shorter in the transversal direction, so that the pressure per unit area of the parts which slid along it was higher. Furthermore, on these prior guides, there was no guiding surface such as the supplementary vertical surface 67 of the new guide shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

The finger 50 of each guide 7 also has four guiding surfaces, symmetrical to the faces of the guiding surfaces of the finger 49, in relation to the median longitudinal plane of the guide; the said surfaces have been marked with the same reference numbers as those of the finger 49, but with the addition of the letter a.

The operation of the entire system is as follows:

When the needle 2 is in the slideway 6 (FIGS. 1 and 2), the guiding element 21 (FIG. 4) of the wear piece 19, as well as the front part of the band 3, are guided, by the three faces of each of their edges, by the corresponding guiding surfaces 37, 38, 39, 40 and 42, 44. The lateral faces of the longitudinal rib 22 of the wear piece are, moreover, guided by the corresponding vertical surfaces 41 and 42 of the said slide.

When the slay commences its return movement, the cogwheel 9 causes the needle to perform its forward movement, so that the head 5, mounted on the needle body in overhanging relation thereto, penetrates the shed 68 (FIG. 8) in the vicinity of the face 73 of the fabric. The inclined upper end 69 (FIG. 1) of the head raises the warp threads of the upper web 70, while the lower inclined end 71 lowers the warp threads of the lower web 72.

The upper face of the needle body 4 slides against the upper web 70, while the lower web 72 is lowered by the slope 27 of the needle body, then the slope 28 of the front end of the wear piece 19 (FIG. 5). When the end B (FIG. 3) of this inclined part of the wear piece enters the shed, the warp threads which are in contact with it occupy a suflicient low position to ensure that the widest part, corresponding to the point A, of the guiding element of the wear piece, which reaches its maximum thickness at A, is afforded passage and hardly makes contact, if at all, with the said threads, the dimensions and relative shapes of the various parts being, in fact, such that the point A (FIG. 8) is not situated below the plane which connects the fell 73 of the fabric to the edge B of the longitudinal rib 22.

After the foregoing, and owing to the fact that the slay continues its receding movement, the needle moves away from the fell 73 of the fabric, continuing its travel in an increased space.

The wear piece easily engages the notches of the guides 7, owing to the inclination a (FIG. 3) of the front face of the guiding element 21 of the said piece and also owing to the chamfers, such as 31, 32, and 33, provided on the upper and lower faces of this front end of the wear piece.

The particular structure described has made it possible to make the surfaces 62 and 62a of the base of the guides 7 extend much farther, in the transversal direction, than the traditional guides, such as 717 (FIGS. 14 and 15), where the corresponding guiding surfaces are marked 62b and 62c. The fact is that, in this former construction, the needle body had no lower longitudinal rib, so that at the beginning of the travel of the needle in the shed the lower web of the warp threads 72 was not lowered to below the level of the base of the guides, and consequently, in order to avoid the jamming and rolling of the said threads between the lower face of the band fixed underneath the sole of the needle body and the surfaces 62b and 62c of the guides 7b it was necessary to limit the transversal extent of these guiding surfaces and to make them slim in shape, as may be seen from the drawing, which reduced the surface still further.

In FIGS. 11, 12 and 13, a modification of the guide 74, is shown, in addition to the guiding surfaces of the guides 7 described above, and in order to reduce the pressure per unit area still further, there is a small supplementary horizontal guiding surface 75, 75a, on which (FIG. 11) the two edges of the lower face of the longitudinal rib 22 of the wear piece, respectively, perform a sliding movement.

It will be observed that in the various embodiments, from that moment onwards at which the rear end of the guiding element 21 of the wear piece leaves any of the guides, the band 3, since it has the same cross-section, is guided under the same conditions as the said wear piece.

Needless to say, the wear piece can be either longer or shorter and can extend under practically the entire length of the body of the needle, the position of the cog-wheel 9 and that of the slideway 6 then being appropriately modified.

The invention is naturally not confined to the embodiment described and illustrated herein, and modifications can be made thereto, without departing from the principle on which it is based.

For example, the wear piece could be made integral, at the manufacturing stage, with the needle body. In particular, in this case, equivalents to the perforations 15 could be provided in the wear piece.

I claim:

1. A weaving machine with uninterrupted weft supply having at least one needle consisting of a flexible band of rectangular cross-section to one end of which is secured a needle body having a head; a slay; and guiding means carried by said slay for guiding said needle; said guiding means comprising a plurality of guides, a slideway and a bow-shaped part, said weaving machine being characterized in that said needle has a sole formed with a guiding element having the same cross-section as that of said band and a reinforcing element forming a longitudinal rib underneath the lower face of said guiding element.

2. A weaving machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said needle body has a front and rear part, said end of said band being secured to said rear part of said needle body.

3. A weaving machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said guiding and said reinforcing elements form together a single wear piece.

4. A weaving machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the lower face of said front part of said needle body is inclined downwards to the rear and the front end of said longitudinal rib is inclined in the same direction.

5. A weaving machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein said guiding element comprises a front end which is inclined towards the rear to each side from the centre outwards.

6. A weaving machine according to claim 5, wherein the upper face and the lower face of said inclined parts of the front end of said guiding element are bevelled, the upper face being inclined downwardly and the lower face being inclined upwardly.

7. A weaving machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein the widest part of the front end of said guiding element is situated substantially in the same transverse plane as the lowest portion of the lower inclined front face of said longitudinal rib.

8. A weaving machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said guides has a horizontal supporting end guiding surface for the lower face of said band and said guiding element, said surface extending in transverse direction from each vertical plane containing the edges of said band inwardly to the path of travel of the corresponding lateral face of said reinforcing element.

9. A weaving machine as claimed in claim 8, wherein each guide further has a supplementary lateral guiding surface for guiding the corresponding lateral face of said reinforcing element.

10. A weaving machine as claimed in claim 9, wherein said supplementary surface and said corresponding face of said longitudinal rib are vertical.

11. A weaving machine as claimed in claim 10, wherein each guide has a second supplementary guiding surface for the lower face of said rib.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,125,894 8/1938 Dewas 139-123 2,151,085 3/1939 Dewas 139-123 3,077,905 2/1963 Remington 139-l22 3,085,598 4/1963 Belforti 1 39-122 3,116,761 1/1964 Remington 139-422 3,144,051 8/1964 Dewas l39123 3,232,321 2/1966 Dewas 139123 FOREIGN PATENTS 210,336 5/1909 Germany.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

J. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A WEAVING MACHINE WITH UNINTERRUPTED WEFT SUPPLY HAVING AT LEAST ONE NEEDLE CONSISTING OF A FLEXIBLE BAND OF RECTANGULAR CROSS-SECTION TO ONE END OF WHICH IS SECURED A NEEDLE BODY HAVING A HEAD; A SLAY; AND GUIDING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID SLAY FOR GUIDING SAID NEEDLE; SAID GUIDING MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF GUIDES, A SLIDEWAY AND A BOW-SHAPED PART, SAID WEAVING MACHINE BEING CHARACTERIZED IN THAT SAID NEEDLE HAS A SOLE FORMED WITH A GUIDING ELMENT HAVING THE SAME CROSS-SECTION AS THAT OF SAID BAND AND A REINFORCING ELEMENT FORMING A LONGITUDINAL RIB UNDERNEATH THE LOWER FACE OF SAID GUIDING ELEMENT. 